Has it really been that long.......

since I blogged the last time?? Boy time flies!

Let's take a stroll down memory lane.....at least since the last time I wrote! Lot's of things have happened in our family since March. We celebrated Andrew's 31st birthday on April 23rd and spent that weekend (which was also Easter weekend) with his Mom and Mr. Reid. For his birthday dinner Mike grilled his famously delicious, and juicy, steaks. Always a favorite with Andrew. And his Mom, who Jackson affectionately calls "Rah-Rah", made him a birthday ball cake. It was fabulous!! I wish I had taken pictures of all this, but it seems I have been slacking on my "photo" game lately.

Anyway, this cake ball cake is made by mixing and baking a cake mix, then you crumble that up and mix it with an icing of your choice, roll into balls, and finally dip in melted white chocolate and chill until hardened. The flavor we had was lemon cake with cream cheese icing and it was simply sinful. Yummo! Oh, and before I forget, we also did an egg hunt for Jackson the afternoon of Andrew's birthday. Jackson was really getting into it until he caught sight of the pond, lol.

For Easter we all got dressed up and went to church; we tried to take a few pics afterward, but that wasn't very successful. Jackson is always ready to change out of his Sunday clothes once we get home. We did get a few cute ones though. I will have to add those at a later date.

So, Jackson got to stay with "Rah-Rah" for the next week and a half while we were preparing and going on our belated 5-Year Anniversary trip to Hawaii. That was a great anniversary/vacation trip, and incidently also our second "baby moon" trip! We found out on April 14th that we were expecting another baby, I had my first prenatal appointment on April 27th, and we hopped on the plane to Hawaii on April 28th! How's that for timing?

"Rah-Rah" had a photographer come out to her house while she was keeping him to take 19 month pictures, and they turned out great! Thanks again Cindy! Here are a few. I would have added more, but had problems uploading additional photos after I posted these.....please help me if you know how to go back and add more once you've already added a few. Thanks!

 

 

When we got back from our trip, we waited another week and a half or two to announce the news to everyone. From the time I got back til' then, I sprained my left mcl and had to be in a knee immobilizer for 5 days straight! Not fun! One of those days was Mother's Day, lol. Jackson and Andrew got me the sweetest cards and picked beautiful daylilies and gladiolias from our flower beds to make a bouquet for me. I have to brag on Andrew because he really took care of me while I had to keep my knee propped up...such a wonderful husband! That night they took me to Red Lobster for dinner. We had a great time!

When we finally announced to everyone,  I was right at 9 weeks. We really had fun telling Andrew's family....and Nancy was the only person we got to tell in person, so I made a special shirt for Jackson to wear for that evening.

Tomorrow my little Jackson will be 20 months old! I cannot believe how big he has gotten and how smart he is. He never ceases to amaze us with his brilliance...and he is such a joy to be around! I mean, he has his moments, but for the most part he is all smiles. His smiles warm my heart.

A few months ago I wrote a few things about Jackson at the time, and now here are a few more tidbits...

20 Things about my 20-month-old, Jackson:

1. He doesn't really have a baby face anymore ;( He is getting to be such a big boy....time please slow down!

2. His eyes are still really blue, especially when he wears blue

3. He weighs around 27 lbs and is 36-38 inches tall.

4. He has become really picky with his food lately, and refuses vegetables and fruit more often than he used to.

5. On the flip side, he is convinced that green bean, carrot, or any other baby food is yogurt, so that's how I make sure he's getting his fruits and veggies for now!! He will kill me when he finds out later, but sometimes as a Mom you have to do what you have to do!

6. He loves his trucks and tractors! Really any type of transportation that is motorized!

7. He is now more interested in watching Sprout TV, and more specifially "Thomas" when we get home from "school" or on Saturday mornings.

8. He often asks to watch "Airpanes" or "Trucks" or "Twactors" on TV.

9. He loves to run around naked in his "cape" after bathtime!

10. He now loves to go "simming" at the Wellness Center with us on the weekends.

11. He can say Wal-mart and likes to go shopping with me there.

12. He is very friendly and likes to say hello and wave to people while we are shopping.

13. He loves for us to play with him and give him attention. If he wants us to spend more time with him, he will walk over and grab our hand and walk us back to his room or wherever he wants to go. He says "Hand" as he grabs our hand....it is the sweetest thing.

14. Speaking of sweet, he gives really sweet kisses and hugs these days. I always look forward to a bedtime kiss from him at the end of the day.

15. Every night we read him at least two bedtime stories, and most of the time he requests both of them to be the Bible. He has two; one little Bible, and one he calls the "big Bible". That blesses my heart every time.

16. When he is tired he will tell us "Nap" for naptime or "Bed" for bedtime. Thank the Lord he loves his sleep as much as his mother does! Lol...

17. He can repeat anything we say and sometimes says things we didn't even know he knew how to say!

18. He has started saying "Thank you Mommy" or "Thank you Daddy" when we give him a snack or help him with something. You can never teach good manners too early ; )

19. He really likes to say "Cool Dude" and it is the cutest thing!

20. My love for him has grown so over the past 20 months and Andrew & I thank the Lord every day for blessing us with such a sweet little boy. ;)